Capitol Hill Synagogue Vandalized With Alternative Facts

A Capitol Hill synagogue has been vandalized with Holocaust-denying graffiti, the Seattle Times reports. Per the Times, Temple De Hirsch Sinai was vandalized on Thursday night with a spray-painted message reading, “The Holocaust is fake history,” with the “s” characters as dollar signs (a reference to the anti-Semitic stereotype of Jewish people as being obsessed with money.)

The vandalism comes as some fear a rise in white nationalism in the area. As it happens, on Friday U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who represents Capitol Hill, introduced a resolution urging the Department of Justice to investigate a series of recent incidents as hate crimes. This includes the recent shooting of a Sikh-American in Kent, in which the shooter reportedly said “Go back to your country” before pulling the trigger.

In a press release, Jayapal said she was speaking about the resolution on the steps of the U.S. Capitol when she learned about the synagogue vandalism.

“We will not be intimidated. Today, I introduced a House resolution calling on the Department of Justice to fully fund hate crime investigations into the rise in attacks on Jewish, Sikh, Indian, and Muslim-Americans and communities of color,” Jayapal, who is an immigrant from India, said in a press release.

Speaking to the Times, Rabbi Daniel Weiner compared the graffiti message to the “alternative facts” coming out of the Trump administration. “All facts are fungible,” Weiner said of the age of Trump. “Fake facts, fake history.”